Norway: Tromsø defeats Oslo

Acting Norwegian Olympic Committee and Confederation of Sports president Odd-Roar Thoresen (right) had to use his double votet to break the deadlock in favor of Tromsø.

PHOTO: Heiko Junge / SCANPIX

Tromsø gets Olympic nod

The board of the Norwegian Olympic Committee and Confederation of Sports has decided that the northern city of Tromsø should be the candidate to bid to stage the Winter Olympics in 2018.

Acting sports president Odd-Roar Thorsen announced the decision at a press conference at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, after saying: “It is the nature of sport to be brutal - it creates winners and losers.”

Thorsen revealed that the board vote had ended 6-6 and been resolved by the double vote of the meeting leader.

“We now go from a city contest to a contest of nations. It is important that we now stand united behind the candidate we have chosen,” Thorsen said, and added that all three candidates - Tromsø, Oslo and Trondheim - had been strong.

“They have done a thorough job and deserve respect. I am sure that all three could have held fantastic winter games,” Thorsen said.

The next stage of the process will be a parliamentary treatment of the question of a state guarantee for the Olympic games, which should happen in the autumn. In 2009 the Norwegian Olympic Committee and Confederation of Sports presents the candidate city to the International Olympic Committee and a formal application is sent to the IOC in 2010.

In July 2010 the IOC narrows the field of potential hosts to four cities and a year later the IOC chooses the city that will hos the 2018 Winter Olympics.

By Erli Berg Daneshmand and Jonathan Tisdall

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Majority of Kenyans willing to embrace GMO

Nairobi (Kenya) A new research conducted by the Research International Organization International, a non-governmental organization, has revealed that a majority of Kenyans are now willing to embrace Genetically Modified Foods (GMO).

The study that was conducted between May and June 2006 to establish the public perception on the biotechnology indicates that 81 percent of Kenyans consider new technologies as the only way to eradicate poverty and make the economy competitive.

Melissa Baker, the International Public and Social Director for Research International Organization said that 52 percent of the respondents said that getting food for them and their families was their first priority.

“These people said getting enough food to eat for them and their families is the key issue, but 15 percent said they are concerned with avoiding food with ingredients that may be harmful,” said Baker.

While addressing journalists in Nairobi on Saturday, Ms Baker described the 15 percent as the more sensitive group.

The study further indicates that 52 percent of Kenyans rarely check the contents of the food they buy while only 20 percent fear there may be risks involved in adopting GMO foods.

Baker however conceded that a majority of the respondents lack basic information about such foods.

“The survey recommended increasing the availability of accurate information to both the population and to key stakeholder groups, involve all stakeholders in the process of any genetically modified crop introduction and then overcome some of the concerns such as the perception that there may be negative health impact”, Baker added.

Baker said 77 percent of the respondents trust medical professionals and the media to pass on the information on GMO technology while only 15 percent trust NGO’s on the same.

The countrywide study had 2,500 respondents above 18 years of age.

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ECOWAS adopt plan for biotechnology development

Accra (Ghana) The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) at the end of its third ministerial conference on March 27 - 30 in Accra, adopted Friday evening an action plan for biotechnology development, in line with the general agricultural policy aimed at reviving the agricultural sector of the sub-region, the special correspondent of APA has noted.

The objective of the action plan is to “contribute in a sustainable way to people’s food security, to economic and social development and to reducing poverty in member countries”.

In order to reach that goal, activities were classified within three main operational chapters.

According to the final statement of the conference, the point is to develop biotechnology in the ECOWAS area “in order to improve productivity, agricultural competition and manage genetic resources in a sustainable way”.

The other two operational lines relate to the regional approach of bio-security and the implementation of a steering, monitoring and evaluation mechanism.

At that level, ECOWAS ministers insisted on the necessity to implement a communication strategy aimed at sensitizing actors, decision makers and the civil society on the advantages of biotechnology and biodiversity.

The implementation of the action plan, according to ECOWAS’ estimates, will cost about US$26 million over five years of implementation.

The next ministerial meeting on biotechnology is slated for June 2008 in Cote-d’Ivoire.

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EU geared to have copper contracts reviewed

Lusaka (Zambia) The European Union Saturday joined other international organisations and stakeholders in urging the government of Zambia to review the contracts it had entered into with the new owners of the country’s copper mines.

Privatised nearly seven years ago, the Zambian copper mining industry is now doing well largely due to exceptionally high world market prices for the metal.

This is however now causing various organisations to scrutinise the contracts the government entered into with the new buyers of the mines.

Under the existing agreements, the government offered the new investors large concessions and charges a modest tax on profits called a mineral royalty.

However, the country is reaping modest profits from international copper sales even with world copper prices at an all time high, as the private owners of the mines are not obliged to return their profits to the country.

The World Bank was the first institution to call on the Zambian government to re-negotiate the deals with a view to accruing high benefits from the profits.

The leader of an EU delegation currently in Zambia, Derek Fee, said Saturday that the time has come for the government to revisit the deals so that the benefits of the high world market prices accrue to Zambians rather than just the mine owners.

The government has shown a reluctance to renegotiate the deals, claiming the contracts were legally binding and cannot be changed.

The Zambian Chamber of Mines, which represents the mining companies has indicated it will begin arbitration proceedings against the Zambian government should it go ahead to cancel the contracts.

The Zambian business sector has however dismissed the reasons being advanced by both the government and the mine owners as being invalid because they said the government had the power to change the deals without getting into a legal battle.

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Chadians and Sudanese take to prayers together

Agadez (Niger) Chadian and Sudanese heads of state ; Idriss Déby Itno and Omar el Bashir have prayed together Friday evening in Agadez during a collective prayer session led by the Libyan leader, Mouammar Kadhafi, attended by other African heads of state, to celebrate Mawlud, the birthday of the Prophet Mohamed (PBUH), APA has noted.

Presidents Ely Ould Mohamed Vall, Amadou Toumani Toure, Ahmed Tejan Kaba and Mamadou Tanja, also participated in the prayer ceremony.

Since 2003, the Darfur region, at the border with Chad, has been the scenario of violence that caused thousands of casualties, particularly among the civilian population.

Chad and Sudan have been accusing each other, despite the mediation of the African Union and the deployment of security forces in Darfur.

Though Deby and el Bashir did not hug each other, they were however in the same assembly in two prayer sessions (Maghrib and Icha), led by the Libyan leader.

In his sermon, Mouammar Kadhafi urged Muslims “to strengthen their ties and endeavour to commemorate the seal of the Prophet Mohamed (PBUH).

He also recommended the “return to origins” by making of the Holy Quran “the reference book par excellence”.

Mouammar Kadhafi prayed for “peace in the hearts of all children of Adam” for the triumph of truth”.

The commemoration of Mawlud in Agadez, Niger, was attended by thousands of believers from several countries, including six African heads of state.

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UN announces plans to step up efforts in Central African Republic aimed at peacerful solution

Washington DC-(USA) The top United Nations humanitarian official Friday announced plans to step up relief efforts in the strife- torn Central African Republic (CAR), hours after meeting some of the thousands of people who fled their homes and are now living in the bush to escape rebel attacks and fighting with government forces.

Mr. John Holmes, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, said the UN plans to establish coordination offices in remote areas of the country’s north - scene of the most brutal attacks on villages in the past year - to bring in more non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and support their work.

“With tens of thousands of people dispersed and hiding in the bush, a degraded road system, and few NGO partners on the ground, one of the greatest challenges is just reaching people in need,” he said, according to a statement issued here by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

An estimated 284,000 people have been displaced in the past six months, with about 210,000 now living elsewhere within the CAR and about 74,000 escaping to neighboring Chad, Cameroon and Sudan. Many fled after their villages were burned to the ground.

Mr. Holmes visited the Otah area Friday morning, now home to about 1,700 former residents of the town of Paoua, which was torched three months ago during fighting between government forces and rebels.

These internally displaced persons (IDPs) have been returning to Paoua by day to try to rebuild their homes, but then retreating to nearby forests at night for their own safety.

“These men, women and children are not in good shape, living without decent food, clean water or health care, even though they are just a few kilometres away,” he said.

Mr. Holmes, who is the Emergency Relief Coordinator for the UN, also visited the town of Beboy, where many regulars at the weekly market have been afraid to return because of the continuing instability and lack of security.

The Under-Secretary-General then headed to the capital, Bangui, for talks with General Lamine Cissé, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and the head of the UN Peacebuilding Office in the CAR (known by its French acronym, BONUCA). He is also expected to meet with CAR Prime Minister Élie Doté.

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Equatorial Head of State on a tour to Cameroon

Yaoundé (Cameroon) Equatorial Guinea head of state Obiang Nguema Mbasogo Friday afternoon concluded a one-day friendship and working visit to the Cameroonian capital, Yaoundé, APA noted.

Speaking to the media at the end of his stay that was marked by discussions with his counterpart Paul Biya, Mr. Obiang Nguema pointed out that their discussions related to the reforms of the Economic and Monetary Union of Central Africa (CEMAC) of which he is leading a steering commission.

The Equatorial Guinea president said that discussions with his counterpart also revolved around border and consular issues between the two countries to be normalised.

President Paul Biya, on his part said that his guest had come to get the opinion of Cameroon on the CEMAC reform process.

Answering to a question about the recurrent frictions between his country and neighbouring Equatorial Guinea that recently resulted in some massive repatriations of Cameroonians, Paul Biya did not expand over the issue, preferring to say that these were “small border and consular issues”, while expressing his hope however that “on both sides, people abide by the laws”.

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EA Court discounts Kenya

By Adam Ihucha, Arusha

Kenya went against the procedure normally followed by the East African Community in electing members of the regional Legislative Assembly, the East African Court of Justice ruled yesterday.

In a landmark judgment read by EACJ Vice President Joseph Mulenga from Uganda, the court declared that the process that the Kenyan government used to get its nine members of EALA was outright illegal.

Justice Mulenga said Kenya grossly breached Article 50 of the EAC treaty which directs that the legislatures of the three partner states should elect the proportional nine members to the EALA through procedures to be determined by the august assemblies themselves.

?As per evidence presented before this court, Kenya has not done any election as clearly stipulated under Article 50 of the EAC treaty.

Rather, it has merely appointed its own members,? he stated.

In the judgment, which he delivered for two and half hours in a packed courtroom, the judge called on EAC member states to harmonise their laws to conform to the EAC treaty.

?The EAC treaty must be interpreted, understood and implemented uniformly by the EAC member states` laws and not otherwise,? stressed Justice Mulenga, who was flanked by three fellow judges.

These are Augustine Ramadhani (Tanzania), Harold Nsekela (Tanzania) and Kasanga Mulwa (Kenya).

But he hailed Tanzania and Uganda, saying the modalities they had used in electing their respective EALA members went as stipulated by Article 50 of the EAC treaty.

The ruling fell short of saying whether Kenya should conduct a fresh election for its EALA members but the applicant?s counsel team leader, Mutula Kilonzo, said that was obvious.

?This is a landmark ruling by the EACJ and it should be a warning to the EAC member states on the need to abide by the law and not to leave a few people in power to decide crucial issues at the expense of the majority,? Kilonzo told reporters shortly after the ruling at the Arusha International Conference Centre.

It all began as ordinary case of political jostling when Kenyan Vice President Moody Awori and Health Minister Charity Ngilu started arguing last September as to who between them had the right to lead the process of picking the nine Kenya representatives to the EALA.

Ngilu argued that, as the chairperson of the ruling National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) which had put the current (Mwai Kibaki) government in power, she had the right to preside over the selection process.

But Awori insisted that, as the leader of government business and the chairman of the House Business Committee which sets the agenda in parliament, he was better placed to preside over the process. The government sided with Awori.

However, as it appeared that the jostling was over and everything was going on smoothly again, another problem arose.

Things came to a head when the government dropped some of the names forwarded by some of its constituent parties and went ahead to pick other representatives on behalf of the parties.

The government`s official position was that the former ruling party, Kanu, had authorised the House Business Committee to come up with the names for parliamentary approval.

It is that system that was used to pick the outgoing members of the regional assembly, mostly from Kanu.

Five of the nine names - Catherine Kimura, Clarkson Otieno Karan, Augustine Chemonges Lotodo, Gervase Akhaabi and Safina Kwekwe Tsungu - were nominated by the government.

The opposition Kanu picked Abdirahman Haji, Sarah Godana and Christopher Nakulei, as Ford-People went for Reuben Oyondi.

Four names forwarded by some constituent parties of NARC were rejected, much to the chagrin of their sponsors.

They were Fidelis Nguli, Yvonne Khamati, and outgoing EALA members Ochieng Mbeo and Rose Waruhiu.

The aggrieved constituent parties, Democratic Party, Liberal Democratic Party, National Party of Kenya and Ford-Kenya, protested and subsequently filed a case in the EACJ challenging the nominations.

The parties argued that the nominations went against the principle of the EAC treaty that provides for direct and representative democracy in that the names forwarded by the Clerk of the Kenyan National Assembly were not those proposed by the parties concerned.

The government, through Attorney General Amos Wako, argued that the regional court had no jurisdiction over the partner states` selection methods.

It said the treaty gives the states the flexibility to determine the rules under which to pick their candidates for the regional assembly.

However, the regional court dismissed the argument as a wrong interpretation of the EAC treaty.

• SOURCE: Guardian

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